Category: Helicopters & UAV/UAS

The Boeing proposal for its MH-139 helicopter to replace the U.S. Air Force’s aging Huey fleet could save more than $1 billion in acquisition costs and lifecycle expenses. The company today submitted its bid for the Air Force to buy up to 84 MH-139s to protect the country’s intercontinental ballistic missiles and meet certain domestic […]

The United Nations’ aviation agency is backing the creation of a single global drone registry, as part of broader efforts to come up with common rules for flying and tracking unmanned aircraft. While the International Civil Aviation Organization cannot impose regulations on countries, ICAO has proposed formation of the registry during a Montreal symposium this […]

France announced its intention to start using armed drones on Tuesday, joining several states that use the deadly unmanned aircraft in various military conflicts. French Defense Minister Florence Parly said that France is going to start the process of arming its drones in the near future. The move will involve six US-made unmanned aircraft, which […]

Laserpas, a leading international Remotely Piloted Airborne System (RPAS) operator in the Baltic States, announced having completed another power grid inspection pilot project for one of the national transmission operators in the Baltics. Having inspected 330 kV power grid line spanning over 136,17 km, company uncovered over 1500 suspicious and dangerous trees, as well as […]

Iran’s Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO) and Russian Helicopters Company plan to team up to assemble light Russian helicopters in the Islamic Republic, IDRO’s deputy director Abolfazl Kiani Bakhtiari announced. Mr. Bakhtiari said that apart from the Russian Ka-226 and Ansat light multirole helicopters the Iranians would also assemble their own Saba-248 cargo and passenger […]

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has opened submissions for its review into commercial and recreational operations of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), or drones. The regulator on Friday published a discussion paper on RPAS operations in Australia, noting there were about 50,000 drones used in this country currently, mostly for sport and recreational purposes. […]

Boeing will build and test three U.S. Army CH-47F Block II Chinook helicopters as part of a modernization effort that will likely bring another two decades of work to the company’s Philadelphia site. A recent $276 million Army contract will fund those helicopters, which will validate technology advancements that will increase the iconic helicopter’s lifting […]

The second leg of the Helicopter World Cup 2017 kicked off at Konakovo Aerodrome, in Russia’s Tver Region, on July 15. During the two-day event, pilots of 15 crews from Austria, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine showed their skills in two competitions: “Slalom” and “Freight handling.” Russian pilots performed in Mi-2 and Robinson-44 helicopters and took […]

The UAE will stop importing drones that fail to the match the new specifications for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a senior Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (ESMA) official has said. In May, ESMA approved the new regulatory standards that included a surveillance system for detecting unmanned aerial vehicles. “Our new standards will come into […]

Emergency workers and the obscenely rich love helicopters, and for good reason. Unlike airplanes, whirlybirds can take off and land almost anywhere, making them just the thing for tight spots and urban areas. The drawback, though, is speed. Choppers are slow. While Gulfstream’s G650 private jet streaks along at north of 600 mph, conventional choppers […]